Brewers Journal Canada - Summer 2022 by Reby Media

THE MAGAZINE FOR THE CANADIAN BREWING INDUSTRY SUMMER 2022 | ISSUE 25 ISSN 2398-6948 30 | BELGIUM: A BEER ODYSSEY BREWERS JOURNAL CANADA OLD FLAME BREWING CO Craft in the Canadian community 36 | SOMETHING IN THE WATER: DRINK CURIOUS 44 | NO AND ONWARDSLOW:&UPWARDS

Hello and welcome to the lat est edition of Brewers Jour nal Canada. Is it just me or is 2022 racing by in the blink of an eye?

In Toronto, Something In The Water is the culmination of three beer lovers from differ ent marketing agency backgrounds com ing together to open a brewery designed to satiate the curious palette and mind. And patrons of the city’s Liberty Village are all the luckier for it.

Tim Sheahan

“I feel that The Mash has given us an op portunity to take control of our future a little bit,” explains Brittany Kozloski. I hope you enjoy these articles, and many more, in this latest issue. And please don’t forget to enter your submissions to the 2022 Canadian Brewers Choice Awards. For more information, visit: www.brewersjournal.ca/awards

Businesses of all shapes and sizes taking leaps of faith to help realise their dreams, each forming part of the fabric of this fan tastic sector.

For cover stars Old Flame Brewing Co, ex pansion is a great thing. But you also must be diligent in the decisions you make.

“You truly do need to know your market when you open up a brewery,” says founder Jack Doak. “If you go into a town that pre dominantly hasn’t really experienced craft beer then you need to work hard to nurture a fanbase for your product. He tells us: “If we opened up into Port Per ry and the first couple of beers that came off the line were high ABV West Coast IPAs, then I’m pretty sure we would have had lots of people come to the area, check out this new brewery and leave the building going on what an amazing place, but the beers are too different’.

“We have a sign on our wall that says curi ous people drink curious beer. We love the notion of the curious is it speaks to a way of being,” says co-founder Steve Waugh from page 37. “It’s why so many of us want to go to local, independent shops rather than the chain stores.It’s also why you go to farmers markets and museums because curiosity is an intoxicating thing.”

Until next time!

And in Alberta from page 50, we tell the story of Half Hitch Brewing Company which was one of the first breweries to come to market during the craft brew explosion in. Founded by homebrewer Chris Heier, his father Mike Heier, broth er Kyle Heier, step-siblings Brittany Ko zloski and Chace Kozloski, the business has evolved with the launch of it’s su per-successful pizza and beer concept The Mash, with no sign of things slowing down, either.

As we settle back into something remote ly resembling normality, this year has been a period of growth, exploration and evolution for much of the Canadian brew ing Andindustry.formany of the breweries featured in this latest issue, 2022 has been just that.

EditorLEADER brewersjournal.ca SUMMER 2022 | 3

“But we know that in North America 90% of beer drinkers still prefer to drink a lager.

EVOLVE AND EXPAND

Something that is light, crisp, refreshing and sessionable. So for us to introduce craft lagers to people, it was something they could relate to and enjoy.” Check out their story from page 18 onwards…

Trending | No and Low Alcohol Beers in the No and Low categories are no longer on the sidelines, no longer a niche, no longer the unexpected.

Brewers Journal Canada chats with some of the sector’s leading lights about innovation and the road ahead.

2022SUMMER 5444261610 18

Pulkit K. Agrawal, Founder and CEO of The 5th Ingredient, discusses the seven added benefits that come with beer traceability.

The Story of... | The Ultimate Collaboration After an EF2 tornado touched down in Uxbridge, Ontario in May, The Second Wedge Brewing Co would soon be needing some of that famed craft beer camaraderie. Thanks to Market Brewing of Newmarket, they got just that.

Different Perspectives Something In The Water Brewing Co, a new brewery in the heart of Toronto’s Liberty Village, is taking the concept of Being Different to new levels.

BREWERS JOURNAL CANADA6 | SUMMER 2022

Gambrinus Malting discusses their Honey Malted Oats –a product 30 years in the making.

Ingredients | Honey Malted Oats

Comment Traceability

CONTENTS

Focus | Finance Canadian Western Bank goes into depth as to what’s to come following the recent rise in interest rates, labour shortages, and supply chain challenges.

SUBSCRIPTIONS The Brewers Journal Canada is a quarterly magazine mailed every Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Subscriptions can be purchased for four or eight issues. Prices for single issue subscriptions or back issues can be obtained by emailing: johnny@brewersjournal.ca CANADA One year: $39 INTERNATIONAL One year: $49 The content of The Brewers Journal Canada is subject to copyright. However, if you would like to obtain copies of an article for marketing purposes high-quality reprints can be supplied to your specification. Please contact the advertising team for full details of this service. The Brewers Journal Canada is printed at Print Buy, 15 - 1253 Silvan Forest Drive, Burlington ON, L7M 0B7 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be: reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without the express prior written consent of the pub lisher. The Brewers Journal Canada ISSN 2398-6948 is part of Reby Media, 42 Crouchfield, Hemel Hempstead, Herts HP1 1PA. It is published quarterly in Canada by CFJ Media, 2275 Upper Middle Rd E #101, Oakville, ON L6H 0C3, Canada. Subscription records are maintained at CFJ Media, 2275 Upper Middle Rd E #101, Oakville, ON L6H 0C3, Canada. The Brewers Journal accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of statements or opinion given within the Journal that is not the expressly designated opinion of the Journal or its publishers. Those opinions expressed in areas other than editorial comment may not be taken as being the opinion of the Journal or its staff, and the aforementioned accept no responsibility or liability for actions that arise therefrom. CONTACTS Tim Sheahan Editor tim@brewersjournal.ca +44 (0)1442 780 592 Jakub Mulik Staff photographer Johnny Leung Canada Partnerships johnny@brewersjournal.ca Sheena Strauss Homebrew Journal Richardknwl.on.tap@gmail.comPiotrowskiPublisher MagdalenaRichard@brewersjournal.caLesiuk Graphic Design GraphMad@gmail.com CFJ Media 2275 Upper Middle Rd E #101, Oakville, ON L6H 0C3

Old Flame Brewing Co, a brewery founded on a love of European lagers, has made a name by proving itself as an accomplished, decorated outfit capable of producing such styles. It’s also based on a great story that is accompanied by a beautiful environment in Port Perry, Newmarket, and the distillery district in Toronto. | Crossing Continents: Belgium Paul Davies, a Beer Sommelier and international beer judge, takes us on a journey of stunning Belgium breweries and blenderies while paying homage to the fine produc ers of Oud Bruin.

30 Focus

48 Craft Beer & Upcycled Spent Grain Half Hitch Brewing Company, based in Cochrane, Alberta, is going above and beyond cre ating both beers and delicious pizza from the brewery’s upcy cled spent grain, all while crafting a recipe for success from working with family.

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For the Love of Lagers

NEWS

The study, published in the current edition of the INFORMS journal Mar keting Science is called “Millennials and the Takeoff of Craft Brands: Prefer ence Formation in the U.S. Beer Indus try.” It is authored by researchers from Tilburg University in the Netherlands and the Centre for Economic and Pol icy Research in London; the University of Chicago and the National Bureau of Economic Research; and the University of “WeTexas.found that the differences between Mil lennials’ brand preferences when it comes to beer are based on their own experiences and broader range of choices when com pared to members of the Generation X and Baby Boomer cohorts who did not ‘grow up’ with the same number of choices,” said the researchers. “Older generations built their brand preferences on the limited choic es they had, which consisted primarily of brands sold by the major national consumer packaged goods companies.”

Back in May, Junction Craft Brewery ac quired Woodhouse Brewing Co.—an inde pendent craft brewer based inToronto— and established a new parent company, Junction Craft Beverage Co. (JCBC). For 11 years, the brewery has been a staple in the west To ronto beer scene, producing a range of craft beers including their flagship beer, award-win ning Conductor’s Craft Ale. In October of 2021, the company initiated a formal re structuring, allowing them to streamline their finances and operations, positioning the business for a post-COVID world and fast-changing beverage market. With the creation of this parent company, they are commencing a multi-year expansion and brewery investment strategy, solidifying their evolution from brewery to bever age company. JCBC will build and further define the growing suite of services and brand portfolio established under JCB. To day the business consists of two areas:

“For each UPC, we observed the product attributes, including beer style and alcohol content, launch date and location of the brewer, and the eligibility of each brewery for official ‘craft’ designation going back to the 1970s when the first craft brewers en tered the market,” said the researchers. “We were able to match this beer census with the Nielsen-Kilts Homescan database (HMS), containing the 2004-2018 purchase activity for a national representative sampling of more than 100,000 U.S. households.”

“Over the last two years, JCB has evolved into a multi-brand/co-packing business. We are now well-positioned to accelerate our growth, keeping pace with the chang ing beverage market. Leveraging our facility strengths, successes and learnings, we’ve expanded our capabilities to include Readyto-Drink (RTD), non-alcoholic beer and spar kling beverages,” says Stuart Wheldon, CEO of Junction Craft Beverage Co. “We’re see ing constant creative innovation coming out of the small and medium-sized beverage space. Our goal is to be right there with our peers, offering value added services to our

JUNCTIONMAJORCRAFT BREWERS JOURNAL CANADA8 | SUMMER 2022

BEER BRAND LOYALTY NOT PASSED DOWN

overall,” said the researchers. “Millennials may value the perception of higher quality for craft beer since our study found 43 per cent of Millennial and Generation X consum ers said craft beer tastes better than the na tional brands. This was in contrast to only 32 percent of Baby Boomers who felt the same Theway.”

researchers studied the geographic differences in the timing and speed of the availability of new craft beers based on location, and they assembled a novel da tabase from various industry sources that tracked the history of all craft beer brands sold in the U.S. They used the unique uni versal product code (UPC) for tracking.

“In our own case study of the changes in the beer industry, we saw a striking generational share gap with half (50 percent) of older mil lennials (25-34 year-olds) drinking craft beer, in contrast to 36 percent of U.S. consumers

JCBC brand portfolio - Junction Craft Brewery, Woodhouse Brewing Co., Caribru Craft Beer Services - Co-packing ser vices supporting craft beverage entre preneurs and Businesses

New Research Reveals Current Beer Consumption Rates Influenced Mostly By History of Personal Choice

The researchers found that during that period, the craft beer segment collective ly increased from 5.3 percent in 2004 to 20 percent in 2018. In 2018, Millennials ac counted for 20 percent of total craft beer sales and allocated 34 percent of their beer spending to craft bands. This was 14 percent higher than the 20 percent Baby Boomers allocated.

eer consumption has always provided insights into shifts in demographic preferences and brand marketing. A new study conducted to measure brand preference based on demographics sought to identify trends in the beer industry. It found that Baby Boomers did not pass their own beer brand loyalties down to their Mil lennial children.

The researchers found that because Mil lennials came of age as beer consumers when craft beer emerged on the scene, they were more open to try and build brand loyalties around smaller, lesser known and more diverse brands. As this younger de mographic built more fragmented loyalties among craft beer and smaller beer brands, the larger national beer brands saw a de cline in market share specifically in this younger demographic.

“As one of Ontario’s largest contract brewers, we’re proud of what we’ve accomplished over the last eight years,” says Woodhouse founder, Graham Woodhouse. “Joining JCBC, a larger organisation with a physical brewery, allows us to access new channels, more easily bringing new products to mar ket. It’s important that we continue to serve our customers by supplying exceptional products where and however they want to purchase them. We are excited to be a part of this journey with JCBC.” Today, JCBC produces over 70 different products for more than 30 different part ners, including craft beer, spirit based RTDs, non-alcoholic beer, and sparkling beverages.

After extracting a splinter, Carvajal used a microscope to find a tiny yeast specimen, which after a long period of cultivation he was able to resurrect. In his laboratory at the Catholic University of Ecuador, Carva jal takes a small vial containing a variety of the Saccharomyces cerevisiaerescatada yeast. “It lives here in a little container. It’s very humble, but it is the star of the labo ratory”, said the 59-year-old. Carvajal, who comes from a brewing fam ily, found an article in an industry maga zine that vaguely described the formula for the Franciscans’ 16th century drink. Little by little, he pieced together bits of information to revive the brew with cin namon, fig, clove and sugarcane flavors.

BREWERY UNDERGOES CHANGES brewersjournal.ca SUMMER 2022 | 9

partners, from product development and production to logistics and distribution sup port. Combined with our own brand strate gy, we’re creating a business that celebrates all things craft and lets us do the thing we love most: create exceptional beverages for our customers.” In support of this new strategy, JCBC’s ac quisition of Woodhouse Brewing Co. adds a selection of quality craft beer to comple ment their growing brand portfolio. Wood house founder, Graham Woodhouse, joins JCBC as VP of Sales, overseeing the entire brand portfolio and retains an ownership stake in the business. “We’ve worked with the Woodhouse team for years, producing a number of products for them,” says Whel don. “Bringing Woodhouse onboard is both an exciting and logical step for us. We’re excited to work with Graham and his team, supporting the great work they have done and providing them with additional infra structure and resources to help continue to grow the brand and reach new customers.”

400-YEAR-OLD ECUADORAN BEER RESURRECTED FROM YEAST

“Not only have we recovered a bi ological treasure but also the 400-year-old work of silent do mestication of a yeast that prob ably came from a chicha and that had been collected from the local envi ronment,” Carvajal told PHYS ORG news in an interview. Carvajal found out about the ancient Franciscan brewery in Quito while reading specialist beer magazines and managed to find a barrel from the old brewery in 2008. It was stored in Qui to’s San Francisco Convent, an imposing three-hectare complex built between 1537 and 1680, which is now a museum.

Historian Javier Gomezjurado, who wrote a book on Quito beverages, told AFP that the brewery in the San Francisco Convent was the first brewery in hispanic Ameri ca. It began operations in 1566, but there were just eight friars in the convent at that time and production was minimal, said Gomezjurado. With the introduction of machinery into the brewing industry, an cient formulas began to disappear. The brewery closed in 1970.

Inside an old oak barrel, Ecuadoran bio engineer Javier Carvajal found the fungus of a 400-year-old yeast specimen that he has since managed to resurrect and use to reproduce what is believed to be Latin America’s oldest beer. That single-cell microorganism, taken from just a splinter of wood, was the key to recovering the for mula for an elixir first brewed in Quito in 1566 by friar Jodoco Ricke, a Franciscan of Flemish origin who historians believe in troduced wheat and barley to what is now the Ecuadoran capital.

“There were a massive number of holes in the recipe and my job was to fill those holes,” said Carvajal. “It is a work of beer archeology within the microbial archeol ogy” - Carvajal had to carry out to rescue the yeast, which generates the majority of the drink’s flavor.

The Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR) requires manufacturers of alcoholic beverages that contain 0.5% or more alco hol by volume, to have a traceability sys tem in place.

BREWERS JOURNAL CANADA10 | SUMMER 2022

Product

Unfortunately,costs!product recalls are a very real part of the brewing industry. If you’ve been fortunate enough to avoid having products recalled – that’s awesome! But if you have had to do a product recall, you’ll understand the logistical nightmare it can cause for your brewery. Whether it stems from moldy grain from a supplier or an action that went wrong during your brewing process – they happen.

COMMENT

package supplies Yeast

We’ve heard the government will begin doing surprising inspections at Canadian breweries in the near future. While beer traceability is necessary to stay compli ant, there are 7 additional benefits of beer traceability! Here at The 5th Ingredient, we actually depict these steps as part of our “True Traceability Cycle”. Basic traceability can be implemented using spreadsheets with pivot tables and linked sheets, or you can get the most value out of the process by using a brewery management software like Beer30 by The 5th Ingredient, to track this information.

Let’s dive in on the 7 Benefits of Beer Trace ability - It’s More than Just Compliance! of management demand and current rate of sale

P roduct recall. Those words send shivers down my spine too. It feels like it’s straight out of a brewery horror flick – and a term that everyone wants to avoid at all

TRACEABILITY 7 BENEFITS OF BEER TRACEABILITY – IT’S MORE THAN JUST COMPLIANCE! AS REGULATIONCANADA’SBECOMESMOREFOCUSEDONTHETRACEABILITYOFINGREDIENTS,ALLASPECTSOFONE-STEP-FORWARDANDONE-STEP-BACKCANABSOLUTELYBETRACKEDVIAPAPERLOGSANDSPREADSHEETS.COMPLIANCEISJUSTONEKEYASPECTOFPRODUCTTRACEABILITY,ANDTHEREAREACTUALLYSEVENADDEDBENEFITSTHATCOMEWITHBEERTRACEABILITY,EXPLAINSPULKITK.AGRAWAL,FOUNDER&CEO,THE5THINGREDIENT PRODUCTION PLANNING AND MATERIAL FORECASTING In order to properly trace resources, you need to first plan and properly allocate those resources! The key areas to man age correctly: Tank utilization Work schedules Equipment availability (including bre whouses, tanks, centrifuges and filtra tion, and packaging lines) Availability of raw materials Availability

If you have a process in place to monitor all these variables, you have a good un derstanding of your raw materials and can forecast production in advance. If you’re not doing this, you could end up being short on inventory. This in turn can lead to an array of issues, in regard to a product recall. If you’re improvis ing, to use what’s at your disposal to make your beer, you’ll end up swapping out ingre dients. This may mean that your beer may not be true-to-brand, and that it’s deviating from the consistency your customers are expecting. The lack of availability could also result in increased costs as you may have to overnight ingredients, or potentially hold beer in the tank for longer durations.

For each ingredient that arrives, you want to make sure that you are tracking the ven dor and the vendor provided lot number. This ensures you’re able to track your in gredients through production, which we’ll cover in the next section.

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The second aspect of staying compli ant entails performing true inventory

Asmanagement.youbrew,add in fermentation or BBT ingredients, you and your team need to always annotate on the materials that were added to that beer. If you’re using a spreadsheet, it needs to track the date, brand, batch, ingredient name, quantity, vendor, and lot number.

It’s also vital that you track all substitu tions, to ensure you have recorded what went into that brew, in the case of a prod uct recall.

KNOWING BATCH COSTS – RAW MATERIAL TRACEABILITY, PACKAGING MATERIALS, AND BATCH COSTS

JOURNAL CANADA12 | SUMMER 2022

As indicated in step 2, by properly tracking lot numbers, you will be one step closer to achieving a compliant status. The next step here is to also use that data to also incorporate the costs per lot num ber. This is crucial to understand the true Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) and Work in Process (WIP) for each particular tank and final Payingbeer.attention to this data will mean you can really understand the true cost of goods sold, for each brand, and more im portantly, for each batch number. Since your beer is focused on remaining trueto-brand, the costs should not fluctuate from batch-to-batch, and when you start analyzing the data further, you may even find some savings.

On the yeast side, it’s also critical to un derstand the interconnection between yeast genealogy. This allows you to un derstand what is happening with yeast that is pitched, harvested, propagat ed, and all the data sets that are tied in together, such as vitality, viability, and lot number. This is imperative to understanding the way your yeast con nects on a per batch basis, and super vital in case of stalling fermentation or secondary fermentation due to yeast. Genealogy trees also help predict what may go wrong in future brews and fer mentation processes. As an added bonus, if you’re using this data set cor rectly, you’d also be able to pro-rate the yeast costs that tie in with multiple generation splits and harvest. By implementing a one-stop brewery management system, you should be able to streamline the entire workflow of receiving in the raw materials (grains, hops, adjuncts, yeast) and then tracking their depletions within a few clicks, as opposed to manually journaling thou sands of ingredient additions and deple tions monthly. These features are super handy for day to day operations of the business. But –they are also vital in the event of a prod uct recall.

For packaging, you want to break the information down into bottling, canning and kegging, along with different items and costs, such as branded labels for cans vs pre-printed cans.

And most importantly, if you are faced with a product recall from a supplier – you will know exactly what lot numbers went into which brew. You will know every single beer that was tied in to that ingredient, BREWERS

TRACKING RAW MATERIALS AND YEAST USED IN BEER PRODUCTION

The key here is knowing the batch code and the package date for each product that goes out into the market.

Pulkit K. Agrawal (PK) is the Found er and CEO of The 5th Ingredient®, a leading brewery operations man agement software company dedi cated to helping breweries improve beer quality and consistency. After graduating from Harvard College, Agrawal began working in the beer industry as a Process Engineer for Ballast Point Brewing, where he focused on packaging lines and nitrogen beer. He soon discovered a need in the market for software that expanded beyond standard inventory management systems, where there would be an emphasis on the brewing process and quality, not just inventory tracking.

SALES TRACEABILITY – FOCUS WHERE IT MATTERS

Let’s say you’ve been notified of a product recall. If you have taken the steps you need to do in order to prepare for this moment, you now have a gameplan in place in order to track this information. Here are the steps to take, in the event of a product recall: Identify the ingredients or processes that led to issue Understand all batches that would be impacted by ingredients Identify each account and locations where the batch number was sold and when it was delivered Notify appropriate parties and cus tomers Retrieve and dispose of products

Sales traceability of your beer will help assess product locations in the event of a product recall. If you’re not properly tracking these batch numbers, the most that you know is that a particular brand went to a location, but you would need to reach out to each account to see if they have that actual batch number. By having the team assign batch numbers to each order as it’s loaded, you will be able to assess immediately the extent of damage in case of a product recall.

The more detailed you’ve kept your record keeping, the more likely you’ll have a suc cessful product recall.

your

WHAT COMES NEXT?

bottles, cans, or kegs? Basically –

And without this valuable information readily available, you could incur sig nificant extra distribution costs and lost sales while the problematic batch is tracked down.

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KEG TRACKING – KNOW THE HISTORY OF WHAT’S IN A KEG Another aspect that comes in with trace ability is getting as granular as knowing the history of all beer that has ever en tered a particular keg. This involves div ing in further into the serial numbers for each keg. This becomes particularly powerful if you have your own fleet of kegs and want to see exactly which location has had that se rialized keg number.

Keg Tracking is also powerful to un derstand exactly what’s been in the kegs and for how long — and can help validate that you’re properly sterilizing kegs as you brew and package differ ent styles of beers. A great example of this applies to breweries that keep their sour beer kegs separate from their clean beer kegs, in order to make sure there aren’t any inadvertently created cross-contaminations.

PRODUCT RECALL – KNOWING THE STEPS TO TRACE YOUR BATCH HISTORY

The

As Canada’s regulation becomes more focused on the traceability of ingredi ents, all aspects of one-step-forward and one-step-back can absolutely be tracked via paper logs and spread sheets. Compliance is just one key as pect of product traceability, and there are actually 7 added benefits that come with Beer Traceability! However, if you’re currently looking for an alternative to paper logs and spread sheets and want to streamline your en tire processes, a brewery management software like Beer30 by The 5th Ingredi ent could be just what you need. Beer30 is a proprietary Software-as-a-Service that allows breweries to track data from grain-to-glass. Learn more by visiting: www.The5thIngredient.com.

THEABOUTAUTHOR

making

In January 2018, Agrawal launched Beer30®, a brewery data manage ment system that offers grain-toglass process data tracking. Beer30 focuses on real-time brewing data input, raw material inventory, cost of goods analysis, quality and sensory tracking, sales and distribution and accounting integration. Beer30 is currently in over 300 breweries glob ally, helping to #BrewMoreBeer and #BrewBetterBeer across the nation. In his free time, Agrawal enjoys trav eling, and speaking about entrepre neurship and using data to improve brewery efficiency and quality. it easy to understand the value of beer inventory that the supplier may even need to reimburse you for on a batch-bybatch cost. whether in what’s happening in business? more frequently you assess this data, the more you will understand what’s hap pening in your day to day operations… ef fectively, where you are making money and where you can save. From a trace ability point of view, this is the first step of understanding which beer brands are going to each account, in what packag ing format (kegs / bottles / cans), and on what days.

BEER DISTRIBUTION AND SALES –UNDERSTANDING AGING REPORTS AND KEY ACCOUNTS When you track your beer sales to ensure traceability, you are also col lecting a lot of valuable sales data. But how often do you break down your sales reports? Weekly? Monthly? Quarterly? Your sales report should piece together all your data points. You can then answer the really im portant questions: How much did it cost you to make this beer? What are your revenue streams? How are your sales reps performing? How are your accounts and distribu tors doing? What is the profit margin for each case of beer -

If you’re not using brewery management software, you can definitely track these batch numbers onto a spreadsheet, or even hand write them onto the official print out copy!

A SHIFT TO DEEPER COLLABORATION

COMMENT RISING INTEREST RATES, LABOUR SHORTAGES AND SUPPLY CHALLENGESCHAINHAVE CREATED A SENSE OF OFGIVESBREWERYHEREUNCERTAINTYAMONGMANYINDUSTRIES.CAMMOSER,SENIORMANAGERATCWBCRAFTFINANCEHISFORECASTWHAT’STOCOME.

C anada’s brewing industry has a rich history. In fact, the coun try is home to more than 1,200 breweries and 5,800 domesti cally produced brands. What’s more: according to Beer Canada, 85 per cent of all beer consumed in the country is made right here. By utilizing locally-produced and sourced raw materials such as hops, malted barley, wheat and even better talent, the industry has contributed to both our economy and reputation on the world stage. Masters of their craft, brewers are also proving to be masters of adaptation – and Canadian Western Bank has the honour of supporting them as the only specialized lender in the craft space – whether it is to grow their busi ness, expand their product offerings to include spirits and seltzers, and/or to pivot their business models to stream line their operations.

DIVERSIFICATION IS KEY TO WEATHERING THE STORMS

While the next six months won’t exactly be (“pitcher”) perfect for Canadian brewers, the mindset of the industry has shifted from a focus on navigating short-term influenc es to an emphasis on ensuring success over the long haul. The brewing industry is crafty, and its people understand that change keeps you competitive. And so, a desire to im prove the ability to respond quickly to external factors – including having the capacity to offer more to customers –means turning towards opportunities for broadening product lines and part nering with others.

What makes breweries so special is that no two are the same – and neither are the unique and creative solutions that can be tapped to help the indus try thrive. That’s why Canadian Western Bank partners with brewers of all sizes to understand their specific needs, in cluding how to better serve a more local consumer base. To learn more about why business own ers (including brewers!) love bank ing with CWB Franchise Finance, visit: www.cwbfranchise.com

As we look ahead, rising interest rates, labour shortages and supply chain chal lenges have created a sense of uncertain ty among many industries about what’s to come – and brewing is no exception.

The importance of diversification is one of the biggest takeaways from the pandemic. Using the past two years as an example, breweries that rely on one revenue stream – such as tap room sales – will be heavily impacted in times of uncertainty like a pandem ic or a tightening of household budgets during a recession. In contrast, breweries with a more ag gressive retail strategy will likely see improvement in top line sales. For in stance, rather than relying on out sourced services, acquiring and ex panding packaging equipment can allow breweries to have a variety of formats and pack sizes while optimizing cost savings. This supports new sales and marketing strategies including sea sonal offerings, inter-brewery collabo rations, and the ability to expand to new geographical markets.

FINANCE WHAT’S ON TAP FOR THE NEXT SIX MONTHS? BREWERS JOURNAL CANADA16 | SUMMER 2022

Mergers and acquisitions is the trend we are seeing when it comes to small craft breweries looking to scale up for diversi fication – or to generally mitigate future challenges like the tight margins and quick pivots that arose during the pandemic. By joining forces with a larger producer, small er brewers can consolidate costs, improve operational efficiencies, and potentially ex pand into new markets with an established local presence. And while historically it’s been generally larger producers buying smaller operations, that’s changing as smaller brewers recognize the competitive benefits of consolidation.

If you’re considering diversification or a merger or acquisition, keep these four elements in mind: 1) accurately manage, monitor, and record all input costs as well as sales-related expenditures; 2) set re alistic timelines between you and poten tial partners; 3) reflect holistically on your learnings to manage the next year; and 4) be ready to play the long game.

FLAMEOLDTHECO.BREWING BIGGERPICTURE BREWERS JOURNAL CANADA18 | SUMMER 2022

A BREWERY FOUNDED ON A LOVE OF EUROPEAN LAGERS, OLD FLAME BREWING CO HAS MADE A NAME BY PROVING ITSELF AS AN ACCOMPLISHED, DECORATED OUTFIT CAPABLE OF PRODUCING SUCH STYLES. HERE, FOUNDER JACK DOAK AND VP OF OPERATIONS RICHARD PARK TELL US THAT TO SUCCEED YOU NOT ONLY NEED EXCELLENT BEER, BUT A GREAT STORY AND AN EQUALLY BEAUTIFUL ENVIRONMENT TO ENJOY YOURSELF, TOO. brewersjournal.ca SUMMER 2022 | 19

During the painstaking revitalization of this flagship location in Port Perry to restore the building to its grand former self, its original post and beam structure was uncovered, along with century-old brick and burnt timber from a historical blaze. Repurposed industrial equipment, salvaged local ‘pickings’ and signs of yesteryear furnish the tasting room, giv ing the brewery a warm character that is worth remembering.

And in Newmarket, where Doak was born and raised, resides the brewery’s second site. The Old Flame Ale House, sits at the top of the hill in Downtown Historic Newmarket, overlooking the bustling streets and local community.

Second on the list was Downtown Port Perry where you’ll find the Victorian main street, lined with gorgeous her itage buildings and charming store fronts. But third on that illustrious list comes Old Flame Brewing Co. “We’re so proud of that,” says Doak. “From the start we always wanted to become a destination brewery and that type of feedback shows we’re achieving those goals.”

And if a recent tourism survey of Port Perry is anything to go by, they’re do ing just that. Port Perry is a communi ty located in Scugog, Ontario, Canada, a town located 84 kilometres northeast of central Toronto and north of Oshawa and AccordingWhitby.to those visiting, the main attraction was unsurprisingly Lake Scu gog, an artificially flooded lake in Scu gog, Regional Municipality of Durham and the unitary city of Kawartha Lakes in central Ontario, Canada.

Jack Doak, Old Flame Brewing Co.

“The town was already dancing, we just turned up,” adds Doak.

Lovingly and locally known as “The Old Fire Hall”, the team has been committed to preserving the history of this building just as they did in Port Perry. Newmar ket space features an operating brew house, taproom, remote working area for local residents and a community event space.

If you go into a town that predominantly hasn’t really experienced craft beer then you need to work hard to nurture a fanbase for your product,”

Sitting at the corner of Perry & Mary street is Old Flame’s Port Perry location. It is here their production is focused on crafting quality German-inspired Lagers. Tucked in the Historic Downtown of Port Perry, the brewery is a spot for locals to gather and travellers to discover.

“When you run a brewery, you can’t do all of the heavy lifting by yourself. Be it Port Perry, Newmarket, or in To ronto, we aim to be part of the com munity,” he explains. “If we can help enhance an area then we are doing something right.”

“Since the inception of the company, Jack has done a really good job of identifying beautiful communities and regions to be a part of,” says Park. “These communities are beautiful parts of the world. And by opening a brewery there, in places like Port Perry and Newmarket, we hope we’re helping add to the experience for every one that visits.”

While Old Flame has been adorned with a raft of accolades for its beers over the years, making it the ‘Most Awarded Craft Lager Brewery in Canada’, it has also been recognised for the work it has put into its beguiling locations, too.

Beginning in the early 1900s, the build ing changed hands and uses several times. It became home to a Massey-Har ris dealership, a shoe factory, a lumber yard, a farm equipment supplier, and a textile factory, before converting to its most recent use as Port Perry’s LCBO, in Before1976.settling in its home of Port Perry, founder Jack Doak originally sought The Old Fire Hall in Newmarket to house the brewery, before learning it was unfit for oc cupancy. Port Perry was a town near and dear to his heart, thus pursued the oppor tunity to open a brewery in the small town. Seven years later, The Old Fire Hall in New market became available for occupancy again. In a twist of fate, Old Flame opened the doors to their second location in De cember 2020, bringing the story full circle.

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“Richard likes to tell me that we’re getting very good at put ting breweries into buildings that should not have a brewery,” laughs Jack Doak. If there’s one thing that Old Flame Brew ing Co are not, that’s conventional. And some eight years since starting out, that approach shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon, either. Because for Doak, his mantra wasn’t to build something that he wanted to do, but what he felt was missing or needed in the community.

“In seeing the work we put in to restore the location, the people of Port Perry were not only supportive of the project but I think they’re become proud of it, too,” says Doak.

The historical building that houses Old Flame Brewing Co at its flagship location in Port Perry was originally built in 1874, beginning as the Ontario Carriage Works. It was here where horse-drawn carriag es were manufactured locally in the late 19th century. The building also served as a wood shop and blacksmith’s forge during this time.

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Both Port Perry and Newmarket run 17HL brewhouses with up to 14 taps pouring at each location. And when it came to starting out, focusing on much-loved European la ger styles didn’t happen by accident.

“You truly do need to know your market when you open up a brewery,” says Doak. “If you go into a town that predominantly hasn’t really ‘what an amazing place, but the beers are too different’. “But we know that in North America 90% of beer drinkers still prefer to drink a lager. Something that is light, crisp, refreshing and sessionable. So for us to introduce craft lagers to people, it was something they could relate to and enjoy.”

experienced craft beer then you need to work hard to nurture a fanbase for your product.

“If we opened up into Port Perry and the first couple of beers that came off the line were high ABV West Coast IPAs, then I’m pretty sure we would have had lots of peo ple come to the area, check out this new brewery and leave the building going on We see ourselves as the guardians of the Richardconnection,”humanoriginalPark, Old Flame Brewing Co.

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Upon completing the program Park would quickly find work joining the team at Old Flame Brewing Co. During this time he has combined his managerial experience in the brewing industry from his days at Labatt with the technical skill set acquired at NC, Park found success and the opportunity to experiment at Old Flame Brewing Co.

A key part of the Old Flame Brewing Co team for many years now has been VP of operations Richard Park. Following three years working with Anheuser-Busch in sales, marketing and operations, Park de cided he wanted to change gears. He says there was an itch he needed to satisfy that revolved around “exercising his entrepreneurial muscle” and a desire to cre ate a product he was proud of with his own hands. This would lead Park to enrol in the Niagara College Teaching Brewery Brew master & Brewery Operations program.

“I have known Jack since I was 16 and I remember being a kid looking back and thinking, that entrepreneurial life he leads looks pretty good,” he recalls. “So that was something that always excited me.

“And when working at Labatt, I remem ber a gentleman at one of the breweries put his feet up on the table and decided that he wasn’t going to listen to a 23 year old because I didn’t know what I was talking about. “And to be honest, he was right. So as a re sult, one of the things that lit a fire under me was that if I’m going to focus on having a career in beer, then I really should go and learn as many components of this product that I can. This meant actually making the beer Here,itself.”Park, Doak and the team work with a talented set of people with Doak adopting the idea to ‘hire smart people and get out of their way’, one Park too had taken on. “Hiring young, ambitious and smart people has been the center of our success and will continue to be the reason we stay on the

He smiles: “As a result, we had people leav ing the brewery saying ‘What a beautiful restoration of heritage building, what a great brand, what great swag they have. And oh my god the beers were all great, too.’ “Why? Because we made something for them that was not a stretch from what they were used to.”

While work on that third site in Toronto is underway, alongside whatever may come next, Doak remains resolute on one facet of the “We’rebusiness.calledthe Old Flame Brewing Com pany. It’s not about a fire hall we opened in or the whole theme of firefighting. Old flame is actually about an old partner - an old flame. It’s all about this nostalgic whim sical feeling of a past love,” he says.

trajectory that we are on,” say Park. “The ar ticle focuses a lot on my story, as well as Jack’s, but I want to make it a point to call out the rest of our team and the people be hind the brand. Our production team goes by the name of ‘The Bru Cru’ and our front of house staff as ‘Beer Ambassadors’.” Park adds that he feels he earned his stripes at Old Flame, starting as a shift worker, hauling spent grain, cleaning mould off the ground and everything in-between.

The VP explains that his education in busi ness had lacked practical experience so when it came to seeing Doak’s business plan for Old Flame Brewing Co and its

“As we’ve always said, we want to be part of the community and do our best to enhance it, and we think would do that in Toronto.”

Park adds: “The ambition of Old Flame has always been to be a part of something big ger, and better, than ourselves. And as Jack says, we want to play our small role in these communities. The party is already going on, we’re just hoping to join the dance.”

“Whether it was a good relationship or a bad relationship, it helped form who you are. Everybody has an old flame and every one can relate to that.”

The team is currently working through construction and aiming to open doors by the fall of 2022. Already under lease with major construction underway, all of the equipment is ready to go. Their plan is for an official launch during the Winter Mar ket at the Distillery District with a signature Holiday recipe and bottle.

“That is so important to who we are as Olda civilization.”Flame’s Newmarket location opened during the pandemic at the end of 2020 and, as a result, is experiencing something resembling so-called normality when it comes to trading in 2022. But the team is also focusing on the plans for its next lo cation, in Toronto’s fashionable Distillery Historic District. Approximately 50km from its Newmarket facility and 80km from the flagship Port Perry site, Toronto’s Distillery Historic Dis trict opened in 2003 and today it is widely regarded as Canada’s premier arts, culture and entertainment destination.

Park muses: “Our hypothesis is that we have a brand that has showed it can relate to both rural and suburban communities as it has in Port Perry and Newmarket. If we made it work in an urban environment such as Toronto, then it would demonstrate we have something that can be far-reaching and “Thesewidespread.threesites can co-exist and com plement each other in many ways. Port Perry is affectionately known as our la ger house, while Newmarket is a course of seasonal and experimental recipes.

In The Distillery Historic District, we would honour the heritage of the area with a barrel-ageing programme for our beers, too.

focus on brand experience, he knew he wanted to play his part. He says: “Many people I know are involved in the tech sector, VR, meta and the like. Highly technological, high concept ideas. “But the things that always excited me in my career, and the things that we work on at Old Flame, are the ways we see ourselves as the guardians of the orig inal human connection. For every per son focusing on tech, somebody needs to protect and guard what it means to come together in the same room, to look at each other in the eyes, telling stories, sharing emotions, and clinking those glasses of beer.

“I always came to Old Flame with the ambition to become a leader here. But what I didn’t want to do was cheat the process. I wanted to get my hands dirty and know how each part of the business worked,” he says.

THEIDEAAMBITIOUSTOOPEN A MALTHOUSE. THIRTY YEARS LATER GAMBRINUS

GAMBRINUS MALTED OATS: A PRODUCT 30 YEARS IN THE MAKING C

HONEY

THE STORY OF GAMBRINUS MALTING®

BACK OF CANADIANS BC HAD ANDSERVECONTINUESMALTING®TOTHENEEDSOFBREWERSDISTILLERSINBCANDBEYOND.

all it fate, good timing, or just luck, Gambrinus’s 30th anni versary also marks the intro duction of the newest product to the Gambrinus line, Hon ey Malted Oats. In truth, its arrival, unlike the company’s namesake, has nothing to do with the fate of the gods. Instead, it is a product created through 30 years of ex perience and dedication. We take you through Gambrinus’ three-decade history, plus a deep dive into the development of their all-new Honey Malted Oats.

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EDIENTSINGRHONEY MALTED OATS

IN 1992 A COUPLE

IN ARMSTRONG,

When Gambrinus was being founded, the malthouse from Schlossquell Brewery came on the market. The equipment was incredible, all traditional European style; the only problem was, it was in Heidel berg, Germany. Despite the logistical challenge of ship ping a centuries-old malthouse, the ma chinery was soon disassembled, loaded into containers, shipped to Canada, and reassembled in Armstrong, BC. Where much of the same equipment is still in use today, producing some of the fin est Canadian malts available. As for the name, they landed on Gambrinus, a leg endary European cultural hero celebrat ed as the “King of Beer.” Who, as the story goes learned how to brew from the Egyp tian gods Isis and Osiris. Although they had the distinction of being one of the smallest malthouses in North America, Gambrinus would become known globally for its high-quality malt

Honey Malted Oats feature strong bready, grainy, and sweet notes, char

acteristics thousands of brewers who use Gambrinus Honey Malt will already be familiar with. However, Honey Malted Oats’ darker colour, sweetness, and abil ity to build body set it apart from other malted oats on the market.

Images provided by Gambrinus Malting® & BSG

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and exceptional customer service, but it was the introduction of Gambrinus Honey Malt that truly put them on the map. Their success would soon garner the attention of Rahr and in 2017 Gambrinus joined the Rahr family of companies. Rahr’s influence was felt immediately at Gambrinus, investing in new laboratory spaces and assays, processing equip ment and controls, barley selection and screening. A product of this investment is the recently released Gambrinus Honey Malted Oats.

Honey Malted Oats are malted oats with an enriched flavor profile and deeper color (4 – 7° SRM). This gives brewers the ability to subtly shift the sensory profile of a typical hazy IPA with unique flavor, or to add a lay er of nuance to stout and other oat-incor porating beer styles.

WHAT THEY DO & HOW TO USE THEM When used at up to 20% of the malt bill, Honey Malted Oats’ high beta glucan levels add body and silky mouthfeel –perfect for hazy and New England-style IPAs, but it also works great for a wide range of stouts or lower-gravity ales like mild, brown, and porter. Another benefit of Gambrinus Honey Malted Oats is they retain their husks, so no need to add rice hulls for lautering. So, if you’re looking to break the mold of a typical hazy IPA, add some refine ment to a stout, or if you just want to try something a little different, con sider using Gambrinus Honey Malted Oats in your next brew. Plus, some say you can even taste the beauty of the Okanagan Valley and Monashee Range in each oat.

GAMBRINUS HONEY MALTED OATS

R&D Gambrinus Honey Malted Oats came about by combining the best of two great things: the flavour characteristics of Gambrinus Honey Malt and the ongo ing popularity of New England-style and hazy IPAs. Using Rahr Malted Oats and Gambri nus Honey Malt as product controls, the team at the Rahr Technical Center worked to home in on the ideal flavour profile and characteristics. Following a few trials and iterations they ultimate ly arrived at a balanced oat malt with just the right amount of haze promotion and sweetness. In many ways, this is Gambrinus in a micro cosm: a veteran malthouse keeping abreast of modern brewing trends while taking full advantage of its size and resources – small enough to be nimble, but able to draw upon the QA (Quality Assurance) capabilities and experience of its parent company Rahr. WHAT ARE THEY? In a nutshell (or should we say oat husk?)

FLAVOUR PROFILE & CHARACTERISTICS

PAUL DE TO DAY(S) OF THE OLD GUEUZE - AND THE BLENDERIESBREWERIESSTUNNINGANDHE’DVISITALONGTHEWAY.

update the Oud Bruin brand by renaming it Odnar which is a heritage brand from the brewery’s past. Marc pointed out that Odnar was named after previous owners of the brewery and was an abbreviation of the brewery name around the turn of the nine teenth century. Marc lamented that the younger beer mar ket wouldn’t get excited by a beer called ‘old brown’ and was hopeful of a re-brand in the future. I can see what he means about the name. But the beer remains a delight and there is no better place to enjoy it than the tasting bar at Liefmans while Marc is in full storytelling flow.

first met Marc Coesens of Brouwerij Liefmans about 3 and a half years ago. While enjoying his generous hospi tality and in particular the refreshingly quaffable Oud Bruin, Marc lamented the decline in popularity of this wonderful beer. Oud Bruin is a blend of old and young beer which provide a harmonious balance of mature malt aromas, sweet youthful fla vours and a subtle refreshing sour back bone which is both thirst-quenching and addictive. He reflected that it was viewed as an old-fashioned beer and that younger beer enthusiasts overlooked it for more ex citing modern beers.

CROSSING CONTINENTS BELGIUM

It was quite an honour to walk in Rudi’s steps and experience the old brew house – the mash tuns, kettles, lauter vessels, and possibly the largest koel ship I’ve ever seen. And he’s been tread ing these steps for almost 40 years. The whole experience was a privilege.

One can never get tired of visiting Ro denbach, especially the majestic Foed er Halls but this visit was to be extra special as Rudi Ghequire was to give us a private tour, including the original brewhouse which was closed in 2002.

Founded in 1885 by Paul Verhaeghe the brewery became a popular supplier of beer to Brussels due to its location next to the Vichte train station. The First World War ended the brewery’s association with Brussels and they focussed more regional ly, producing their first bottom fermenting beer. Karl and Peter Verhaeghe now run the brewery, Karl on the management side and Peter in the brewhouse. Today, Verhaeghe is better know global ly for its rood bruin Duchesse de Bour gogne, a blend of 8 month and 18th month old beers matured in oak barrels and name after Duchesse Mary of Bur gundy who was born in Brussels. Locally, Vichtenaar another rood bruin is the beer of choice. Of course the Foeder Hall was the highlight of the brewery tour before we settled back in the old stables where Pol gave us a very generous tasting of Verhaeghe beers. Well generous to the others, I was driving!

FOCUS

A little know fact is that Eugene Roden bach carried out some brewing training in England prior to taking over the brew ery as manager in 1878. It is here where he learned the art of maturing beer in wooden casks and blending young and old beers. You can learn all about it from the anniversary book ‘Rodenbach 200 years: History Poured in a Bottle, History Written in a Bottle’

DAVIES IS NO STRANGER TO BELGIUM AND THE BEERS, REVERED AROUND THE WORLD, PRODUCED ACROSS THE COUNTRY. IN THIS ARTICLE HE PAYS HOMAGE TO THE FINE PRODUCERS OF OUD BRUIN BEFORE MAKING THE JOURNEY TO DAG VAN

OUDE GEUZE - TRANSLATED

BROUWERIJ VERHAEGHE My colleagues and I were in Belgium for the Dag van de Oude Geuze festi val which was back after a Covid-en forced hiatus (more about this on a later post). On our way to our base in Halle we popped in to Brouwerij Verhaeghe in Vichte where we met retired teacher and local historian Pol Ostyn for a histo ry lesson held in the old horse stables which is now a tasting cafe and tour of this amazing brewery.

Our next stop just had to be Brouwer ij Rodenbach in Roeselare and not just because this year they celebrate their 200th anniversary! In fact the anniver sary relates to when the Rodenbach brothers bought an existing brewery on Spanjestraat (one of two located there at the time). The site has been brewing since the 17th century and back in the day they brewed lambic.

Of course, no visit to Rodenbach is complete without a walk through the breathtaking Foeder Halls. 294 of these magnificent wooden structures ex ist, some of which are 150 years old. It is from these foeders that beers are matured to create Rodenbach Classic, Grand Cru, Vintage, Charactere Rouge, Alexander and Rosso.

Rudi shared another special treat – his new beer which has been produced es pecially for the 200 year anniversary Ro denbach Red Tripel is an 8.2% abv tripel blended with a two year old beer. Its an extremely clean beer and drinks way below 8.2%. Refreshing, malty, fruity and lots of complex malt and wood character.

BROUWERIJ RODENBACH

A few weeks ago I took some industry col leagues on a tour of mixed fermentation breweries in Flanders – rood bruins – and lambic breweries and blenderies in Pajot tenland. I asked Marc if he still wanted to

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WHO LOVES SOME LAMBIC? A TRIP TO THE DAG VAN DE OUDE GEUZE

When you walk into De Cam Geuzeste kerij in Gooik, the first thing that you see is a well-worn print of The Peasant Wed ding, a 16th Century painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, painted just before his death. The painting depicts a party with revellers eating and drinking along tables and bowls of food being distributed. On the bottom left of the painting, a man is pouring beer into jugs. Karel Godeau is certain that this would have been lambic beer, common around the Brussels area where Bruegel moved to five years previ ously. Karel is fiercely proud of his lambic and the style in general. And he is com mitted to retaining its provenance and isn’t too impressed with some producers’ more modern takes on the beer style.

BROUWERIJ ‘T VERZET So Marc at Liefmans was lamenting the decline of his beloved Oud Bruin and re flecting that younger consumers struggle to get excited by a beer called ‘old brown’. This could be true but seems to have been lost on the team at Brouwerij ‘t Verzet in Anzegem. These dudes first appeared on the scene as gypsy brewers 10 years ago –they were known as Brouwers Verzet back then as they didn’t have a brewhouse of their own. That all changed in March 2016 when their brewery produced its first beer. Known foremost for their devotion to oud bruin, Koen and Alex also produce a range of blonds, porters, IPAs and anything they find interesting. Their thirst for experimen tation has also taken the oud bruin style to another level. Each year sees the release of their celebrated range of oud bruin infu sions, using additions of different fruits and even oak leaves. And it doesn’t end there. Kameradski Balsamico is a Russian Imperial Stout/ Oud Bruin hybrid at 13.5%, while Super Boil extends the time in the kettle from 1.5 hours to 16 hours, producing a much richer and caramel-forward beer. A meth od that is rumoured to have taken place in the distant past. For their 10 years an niversary the team will also be hosting their first Oud Bruin Festival in Kortri jk held over 2 days Friday and Saturday 10th/11th December. The event will fea ture 33 breweries and includes a number of masterclasses presented by the visit ing breweries. Not to be missed!

A group of us had travelled across to Pajot tenland to attend the 15th edition of the Dag van de Oude Geuze and take in a number of lambic breweries and geuze blenderies along the way. We also managed to fit in visits to a number of mixed fermentation breweries which you can read about here. The festival is organised by De Lambiksto empers and takes place at the Streekpro ductencentrum in Halle across both days of the weekend.

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DAG VAN DE OUDE GEUZE

I’d wholeheartedly recommend this lovely little festival. You will bump into old friends and undoubtedly make new ones. Hal le is also a great base with a number of high end B&Bs in the town such as Kaai 16 where I have stayed before and the impressive Flemish Home five bedroom house. We stayed at the always classy Les Eleveurs with its comfortable rooms, hearty breakfast and fantastic restaurant where we enjoyed an historic beer tasting menu hosted by Andy De Brouwer on the Satur day evening. We also had a full day visiting Brouwerij Boon, Den Herberg for lunch and Lam brikdroom at Drie Fonteinen. Boon had organised a schedule of brewery and foeder tours to launch their new shop at the brewery. While I always love to visit a brewery, the treat here is the barrel room where drinking fresh lambic from a foeder is Oura delight.guidejoined us in a toast of lambic from Vat 83 and I was delighted to locate Vat 31, winner of World’s Best Geuze at World Beer Awards that year when I was on the judging panel for that category. I had a peak at the new tasting room that was due to be launched in a couple of weeks, a date that I couldn’t make, due to judging commitments. It was also great to catch up with Frank Boon and take a look around his work shop where he is busy as a cooper these days repairing foeders. Frank even gave us some staves from a 115 year old barrel, made from wood that was 200 years old at the time. Some glasses of Oude Geuze in the garden was the perfect way to end a morning at the brewery. So it was off to Den Herberg for lunch and after a few beers and a tasty meat and cheese platter it was onwards to Lambiko-Droom. We were a very lucky group to visit the tasting room when a batch of Jerez y Frontera was launched, both the Oloroso and PX versions. And they didn’t disappoint. Midway through tasting these delights we were also offered a tour of the barrel store. One of the highlights was the foeder featur ing a hand-carved relief of Armand and Gas ton on the wood. It is difficult to comprehend that Armand de Belder would tragicaly pass away less than five months later. The world of beer is diminished by his absence. Sunday saw us make our way to Gooik and a visit to Karel Godeau’s De Cam Geuzeste

BROUWERIJ LIEFMANS Brouwerij Liefmans was the last mixed fermentation brewery of our trip. Experi encing Marc Coesens’ hospitality, driven by his infectious personality is a real de light. Marc clearly loves to entertain guests with stories regarding the brewery and his life in beer. After over 21 years at Duvel in Moortgat where he ran the brewery lab he moved close to home to take over Brou werij Liefmans in July 2008 when Duvel bought the then bankrupt brewery and brought it back to life. The history of the brewery began in 1679 in the centre of Oudenaarde. In 1750 Jacobus Liefmans relocated the brewery to its current site on the banks of the river Scheldt and it took until the 20th Century before Liefmans began adding cherries to their tanks and launched their

Beers from 18 producers were featured and being run by a not-for-profit organi sation, prices are decent to say the least. A must-have is the tasting flight of five Oude Geuze, a snip at 6.5 euros. Produc ers in attendance were Angerik, Boerenerf Eylenbosch, Boon, Cantillon, De Cam, Den Herberg, De Troch, Eylenbosch, Drie Fon teinen, Girardin, Hanssens, Lambiek Fab riek, Lindemans, Mort Subite, Oude Beer sel, Sako, Tilquin, Timmermans and the Horal Megablends from 2013, 2017, 2019 and 2021. Plus further treats were to be found in the Streekproductcentrum.

kriek beers. Things took off under the eye of Rosa Merckx who joined the brewery in 1946. It was Rosa who recognised that to in crease their popularity, the mixed fermen tation beers needed to be less tart and she reworked many of the breweries recipes. She became the first recognised female brewmaster in Belgium and took over the management of the brewery in 1972. Ma dame Rosa still lives next door to the brew ery and regularly pops in to pick up a bottle or 2. A true beer legend.

DE CAM GEUZESTEKERIJ

kerij. Founded in 1997 by Willem van Herre weghen, Karel took over in 2000 combin ing his day job at Brouwerij Slaghmuylder in Ninove. He devoted himself full time to De Cam in 2019. I’d won a tour of De Cam at the virtual Toer de Geuze earlier in the year. After a detour to the excellent Cafe Den Haas, Karel welcomed us into his blendery. Immediately we were tasting a fresh jug of his lambic straight from the foeder. Karel was so generous and took us around the blendery, answered our questions and gave his honest opinions on the lambic world in Pajottenland. More lambic followed, some Framboise, a new unnamed and young fruit blend and his delicious Oude Geuze. Supplemented with local cheeses and warm weath er this made for a wonderful afternoon in the company of Karel and his friends. I also picked up some five year lambic that was bottled in 2019. One of the beers of the year for me. Karel even arranged for a friend to collect us and take us to Eizeringen and In de Verzekering tegen de Grote Dorst. Regularly voted the best beer cafe in Bel gium and worldwide In de Verzekering tegen de Grote Dorst dates from the mid nineteenth century. For more than 51 years it was run by Marguerite who at 85 years old poured her last bottle of lambic at Christmas 1999. The Paneels brothers took over the pub and after a 5 year restoration the bar re-opened. It is an essential visit. Not only is it a per fect representation of a traditional Pajot tenland cafe, it also boasts one of the best lambic cellars in the world. Apart from certain events and church holidays, the pub is open only on Sundays between 10am and 8pm. If you in the area this place is unmissable. If you are not, make the effort to visit. Bus 128 between Brussels and Ninove will drop you/pick you up 200 metres away. With our newly befriended driver we enjoyed some delicious lambic from De Troch and a couple of bottles of Bokkereyder. A perfect end to one of the perfect of days. Ever.

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INSOMETHING WATERTHE THE ART DIFFERENCEOF BREWERS JOURNAL CANADA36 | SUMMER 2022

To practice what you preach is a healthy approach to anyone’s outlook on life. And for Steve Waugh, Rick Tanton and Mike Lee, it’s the very advice they’d give their clients back in the wonderful world of marketing.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THREE BEER LOVERS FROM DIFFERENT MARKETING AGENCY BACKGROUNDS COME TOGETHER TO OPEN A BREWERY DESIGNED TO SATIATE THE CURIOUS PALETTE AND MIND? YOU GET SOMETHING IN THE WATER BREWING CO. AND SINCE OPENING ITS DOORS IN MAY 2022, THE BREWERY AND BAR CONCEPT IS ALREADY A HIT WITH THE GREAT AND THE GOOD OF TORONTO’S LIBERTY VILLAGE.

“Be different. If you want to be successful and you want your customers to remember you, you have to be different.”

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And now, as brewery owners themselves, they’re heeding those same pearls of wisdom. In doing so, the patrons of To ronto’s Something In The Water are en joying that desire to be different, mani fested in the beautiful beverages the team are producing and serving in the city’s Liberty Village neighbourhood.

Be different.

And one formative afternoon last sum mer would change the course of the brewery’s route map for good. “I vividly remember driving down Queen West, which is a really hip part of Toronto. And it was just a sea of ‘For Lease’ signs everywhere,” Waugh recalls. “I had an epiphany moment. Maybe now is actu ally the best time to build a brewery be cause everything is closed anyway. That, and it probably was one of the only times when a tenant might have some negoti ating power with the landlord.”

“We needed to expand our product focus from purely sour beers to a broader remit of curious beers. It would open more doors, so that’s what we did!”

“We consider ourselves more of a cafe, than a ‘traditional’ brewery,” says Waugh. “When we talk about Something In The Water, we think of a place where you come together over great conversation and a great couple of beers before moving on. “But when it comes to those drinks, we’re consider ourselves in the curious beverage business. We produce curious beverages for curious people.”

“Not having a sense of place, not having something tangible that you can touch and feel makes it incredibly challenging in a saturated industry like craft beer to build a brand effectively. While it can be done, it’s very hard.

“There’s more than 30,000 people who live in Liberty Village, and that’s within a one kilometre radius of the brewery. It’s largely young professionals who work in down town Toronto,” he explains.

If you want to be yourandsuccessfulyouwantcustomers to remember you, you have to be theSomethingStevedifferent,”Waugh,inWater

“Our intention was to launch the beer in bars and restaurants, and hopefully gain an LCBO listing,” recalls Waugh. “But that was in March of 2020, so the business plan pre dictably blew up when COVID hit.” The team would still go on to secure that all-important listing in the LCBO. And they knew they would eventually want a bricks and mortar operation of their own, but that was something six, sev en, eight years down the line. However, things change… Working with an industry veteran, they would dig into readily-available LCBO data.

He adds: “The Greater Toronto Area re mains such a popular part of Canada. We knew this was the moment to be opportu nistic and go for it. The stars aligned and we would soon find our location.”

And that location would fall in Liberty Vil lage, somewhere Waugh describes as “a city within a city”.

“It was a strategic vision type of approach,” he says. “And once we really drilled into that, it become evident that making a longterm contract brewing business that fo cused solely on sour beers was not going to be Waughviable.”explains:

BREWERS JOURNAL CANADA38 | SUMMER 2022

“It’s a fresh place with a positive energy and very much in-tune with a younger demographic. So while people like Rick and I adore the English pub aesthetic, we felt that wouldn’t be the right fit for our own bar, especially one in this part of town.”

While the brewery’s bricks and mortar business opened for business from 151 East Liberty Street in May of this year, the story of Something In The Water can be traced back to late 2019. Starting out as a contract brewing oper ation, the trio had identified the growth trajectory of sour beers, especially in the US. “We loved these beers, we could see the sector gaining traction, and went about developing our first beer in that style,” he adds. That would take the form of Lee River Blackberry Vanilla. A 4.9% kettle sour, it showcases blackberry purée from Oregon before fermentation and then again af ter primary fermentation. The beer is then finished with Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Pods before transferring for packaging.

Waugh’s business partner Rick Tanton adds: “While we’ve been professional brand builders in our previous careers, and unless you have unlimited money, building a contract beer brand is incredibly difficult.

While upcoming brews include a Peanut Butter & Jelly Milkshake beer, the team have also already got their distant sights set on the potential for future branches of Something In The Water. Waugh explains: “Both Rick and I are data nerds. We have established Liberty Village with the idea of being one of many. So maybe it’s a prototype in that respect. We hope, and anticipate, there will be more to come. But, for now, they are uncharted waters - pun intended!”

“Flights are important to us,” says Waugh. “Because without the brewery at the back, and the flights we can offer, we become a straightforward bar. Breweries are about exploration and discovery is a great thing, which is what a flight can enable you to do.

Destination Toronto describes Liberty Village as “heady with Gen Z and mil lennial energy, it has a youthful, cam pus-meets-condo vibe.” And following the site fit-out, Something In The Water would join that party in Liberty Village. To produce their beers, they landed on a 2,600sqft operation that houses a 10HL, two-vessel brewhouse, backed up by three 20HL FVs and a brite tank.

A blend of four malts combined showcas ing a single hop and an English ale yeast, it presents biscuits on first sip making way for the sweetness of melon.

Until then, though, the team are firmly fo cused on introducing residents and visitors to their part of Toronto to the world of weird and wonderful beers.

Prior to co-founding Something In The Wa ter, Tanton worked in marketing for major beer brands such as Heineken, Molson Co ors and Miller. While he didn’t have a pro fessional brewing background prior to the new business, one of his first beers can al ready be called an award-winner.

In addition to Pancake Bay Sweet Brunch Stout and Lee River Blackberry Vanilla, oth er beers include Great Lake Ontario Keto IPA, a generously-hopped session IPA that delivers strong notes of citrus and finishes dry. But the best part, it has only 3 grams of carbs and 110 calories per can.

“Building a brewery in the bottom of a tow er here in Toronto has proven difficult,” smiles Tanton. “So some interesting deci sions were made, such as our chiller being located in the parking garage rather than the roof, which is some twenty levels up. But we have everything pretty much di alled-in now, and we’re really happy with how everything works.”

“Innovation and invention is in the DNA of breweries, and I think we’ve embraced that.

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Pancake Bay Sweet Brunch Stout com bines five kinds of malts with flaked oats to create a full-bodied stout, then add milk sugar is added for sweetness. As the brew cools, it is steeped in locally-roasted fresh ly ground coffee and finished with Canadi an maple syrup. And named after the soft sandy stretch on Lake Superior’s eastern shore, Pancake Bay was awarded the sec ond-best sweet stout on the planet at the World Beer Awards. Helping Tanton in operations is head brew er Andrew DiMatteo, who joined from Whitby, Ontario-based Town Brewery and previously also worked at Collective Arts Brewing of Hamilton. “We have a modest team here but everyone that has joined us since starting out plays such an integral, important role,” says Waugh. “Everyone is playing their part.”

There is also Avon, a 4.2% Golden Ale.

These, along with Painted Lake Peach Crisp Berliner Weisse and Hazy Maitland IPA, are available as part of flights at the brewery’s cafe bar.

I think every brewery is curious in its own right. And maybe, just maybe, what we’re doing differently is that we’ve put a word to it and wrote it all over our wall.”

“We have a sign on our wall that says cu rious people drink curious beer. We love the notion of the curious is it speaks to a way of being,” says Waugh. “It’s why so many of us want to go to local, indepen dent shops rather than the chain stores.

Tanton adds: “That’s why it has be come the filter of everything that we do here. We believe the people that come through our doors are naturally curious. They want something new, something interesting. And hopefully we can meet those expectations.”

We believe the people that come through our doors are naturally

theSomethingRickcourious,”Tanton,inWater

“It’s also why you go to farmers markets and museums because curiosity is an in toxicating thing.”

In findings from the IWSR, the broader no/low alcohol category reached close to $10 Billion in value in 2021, up from $7.8bn in 2018. And late last year, Niel senIQ reported that the non-alcoholic spirits category soared 113.4% versus a year ago, while non-alcoholic beer in creased 31.7%, and wine sales were up 39.4% during a 52-week period between 2020 and 2021. These figures are, of course, open for further assessment and review with countless research bodies, reports and overviews using varying ways to analyze the market(s). But one thing is clear, and that’s the appetite for beers with no- or low-alcohol is showing no sign of abating. Quite the opposite, in fact. We recently caught up with Mitch Cobb, the CEO and co-founder of Upstreet Col lective (responsible for Libra), Lane Mat kovich, co-founder at Nonny, and Anika Sawni, co-founder of Grüvi, to share their experiences of this buoyant sector, as well as where the challenges and oppor tunities that lie ahead.

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LEADING LIGHTS ABOUT INNOVATION AND THE ROAD AHEAD. BREWERS JOURNAL CANADA44 | SUMMER 2022

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he global non-alcoholic beer market is expected to reach $23.27 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 8.7%. This is according to the “Non-Alcoholic Beer Global Market Report 2021: COVID-19 Growth and Change” report from Research and Markets. THE NO AND LOW CATEGORIES NO SIDELINES, A NICHE, THIS PART OF THE WAY AND THAT’S SOME OF SECTOR’S

brewersjournal.ca SUMMER 2022 | 45

“Our feeling is that NA isn’t a trend, and the category has a lot of growth ahead. We’re seeing more and more people who initially miss “the point” of NA beer, come around to the idea once they give new options a try.

While we are also seeing growth in NA spir its, RTDs and wines, I think that having more options to appeal to different tastes, only helps to strengthen the adult non-alcoholic beverage market in general rather than de ter from NA beers.”

Mitch Cobb, Upstreet Collective: “The NA beer market is anticipated to continue to grow at an 8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the next 10 years globally. I don’t see any signs of it slowing down, as it really is just starting to pick up momen tum as people realize the many occasions in their lives where NA beers just make sense.

“While we’re seeing a lot of premium so phisticated brands enter the space, Grüvi speaks to a different consumer. We want alc-free options to be accessible for ev eryday sipping, which we’re achieving with a down-to-earth brand and competitive pricing given the quality of our products.”

“In the coming year we will see a lot of growth for Grüvi, as well as the category as a whole. We’re seeing key retailers focused on building larger NA sets as the consum er demands more options. Since Grüvi is unique in being the only NA brand to offer both beers and wines, we have the oppor tunity to work strategically with retailers who envision offering an entire alc-free set.“

Anika Sawni, Grüvi: “In the coming year we will see a lot of growth for Grüvi, as well as the category as a whole. We’re seeing key retailers focused on building larger NA sets as the consumer demands more options. Since Grüvi is unique in being the only NA brand to offer both beers and wines, we have the opportunity to work strategically with retailers who envision offering an en tire alc-free set.”

“We love seeing new products popping up, and are always excited to give them a try. Our hope is that new brands speak to a new consumer that typically wouldn’t consider NA as an option previously. Just like we buy craft beer from different brew eries, we also buy from a variety of NA beer brands, and we hope to see more quality options in NA to bring that same buying ex perience to new NA drinkers.”

Lane Matkovich, Nonny: “The larger play ers like Budweiser, and Heineken are spending a lot on bringing awareness to their non-alcoholic products, which we believe is great for the category. We think this helps fuel awareness of the NA cate gory as a whole, and those who don’t nec essarily identify with those brand names might just start looking for other products that fit their taste.”

The quality has improved over time, and people are starting to embrace NA rather than reject it. With most consumers of NA beer not being completely sober, and fo cusing on the health benefits, I think the growth of the category will be in changing the minds and perception of NA. Our hope is that the “Nonny (non-alc)” category will move to become a part of the “great beer” category in time.”

“Although we are seeing an increased rate of new entrants to the category daily, Grüvi is strategically positioned to break down the barriers to entry for the consumer. We are highly focused on bringing the best tasting beverages to market, and, having just won “Best Non-Alcoholic Beer In The World” at the World Beer Cup, and both a Silver and Bronze medal for our wines at the IWSC last month, we’re extremely confident in our ability to maintain this momentum.”

Ongoing growth is forecast in the NA beer market, but do we maintain that growth - especially from competing al cohol-free beverages?

“Outside of general lifestyle changes, we’ve seen the rise of the “sober curious” community — people who don’t necessar ily identify with the term “sober,” for many reasons, but have realized they don’t feel their best when alcohol is a part of their life.“

Lane Matkovich, Nonny: “As a society, we’re starting to pay a lot more attention to our health and mental well-being. With most people starting to understand that health should be a priority, it’s becoming less stig matized to take care of yourself. Leigh and I have thoroughly enjoyed the rise of craft beer, but now realize that that enjoyment doesn’t always align with the balanced life style we aspire to have.”

“Lastly, I think the key factor is the growth in our category over the last 2 years. When we launched Grüvi 3 years ago, the options were few and far between — and frankly, nothing tasted very good. We’ve built our company on breaking down these barriers to entry: focusing on high quality taste, unparalleled variety and constant innovation. Now when someone is reaching for an alc-free option, it no longer feels like a “less than” option.”

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Anika Sawni, Grüvi: “There are a few key factors that are contributing to the normal ization and acceptance of NA beers. As a society, we are becoming increasingly aware of what we are putting in our bod ies and that extends to what we choose to drink as well. We’ve also seen an increase in mental health awareness, arising from an emphasis on self care and a global pan demic that caused many to reevaluate their relationship with alcohol.”

Mitch Cobb, Upstreet Collective: “I think there are several main reasons. One, with an increased focus on health and wellness, especially among younger people, and so ber curious movements like Dry January and Sober October, choosing not to drink is cool - whether its for a night, week, month or a lifetime. There is almost a sense of re bellion around choosing not to drink that is a far cry from previous perceptions that you needed to drink to fit in.”

Why have NA beers moved from, almost being stigmatised, to an accepted part of the beer family?

“Additionally, consumers want and crave variety, the same as they do in the alcohol ic space. If we look at the craft beer space there are countless options to choose from. Whether it’s unique styles of beer or wines or spirits, people want an alc-free option for it.”

“A day snowboarding doesn’t always need to end in apres beers, or a hard day’s work shouldn’t always mean that you need that hard earned beer. With new quality prod ucts being brought to market, it’s starting to become a lot easier to make the switch to an NA option. We’d love to see the shift from making the choice not to drink be come celebrated as a strength rather than a weakness. We have a lot of work to do to get to that point, but we can see it coming.”

“At Grüvi we recently launched our “Discovery Series” which is a community collaboration that feeds our pipeline of new innovations. All new releases have a QR code on the front of the can that allows our customers to give direct feedback on their experience. We’re then able to rapidly take action according to consumer feedback and perfect our recipes. This is something that many bigger com panies won’t spend the time to do but has tremendous value in bringing only the best products to market and creating products that are exactly what the consumers want.”

“By focusing on this we’re hoping to help busi nesses become more inclusive, bring in more customers they wouldn’t otherwise, and be a part of a cultural shift that seems inevitable.

Mitch Cobb, Upstreet Collective: “For Libra, In addition to expanding our distribution of Libra across Canada and the US, we will also be releasing some really interesting new styles of NA beers. In terms of the cat egory in general, I think we will see some more entrants into the market, and again, a push to innovate in the space and devel op new styles of NA beers.”

But also, much like craft beer fans, NA beer consumers are also looking to try new styles and new brands and are looking for variety so we are always trying to push the limits of what we can create for NA Beer.”

There are a lot of different approaches on creating non-alc beer, and the processes and technologies are being improved all the time. If we want to create experiences that rival traditional beer, we need to step up on innovation and get creative just as the craft beer industry has.”

How important is innovation in the No and Low space?

Anika Sawni, Grüvi: “Innovation is crucial for the success of the category as a whole. The biggest barriers to entry for the alcfree category are taste, variety and the as sociated stigma. In order to truly bring NA beer mainstream, brands need to be con stantly innovating, improving the taste to reduce these hesitations.”

Mitch Cobb, Upstreet Collective: “It is incred ibly important. Every week, it seems there is new technology or ingredient being devel oped to help move the category forward so it’s really important to stay on top of these innovations and to always be focused on continually improving our existing SKUs .

“Innovation and variety are integral to who we are here at Grüvi so you can expect to see some new releases coming soon, in cluding our Weekday Wit, which will be joining our Discovery Series towards the end of August, as well as some new releas es on the wine side. You can also expect to see a brand refresh for our packaging as we scale up in the coming months.”

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Lane Matkovich, Nonny: “We would love to continue focusing on adding Nonny to the menu within the bar/restaurant and brew ery industry in BC, and other major cities across Canada. Our hope is to help reduce the current stigma around non-alc beer by partnering with businesses we’re excited about, and help them celebrate non-alco holic options in settings that have histori cally hidden these options off menu.”

Anika Sawni, Grüvi: “We have some exciting in novations on the horizon for Grüvi in the coming year. As we come off the pandemic, we have been heavily focused on building our brand awareness and getting Grüvi on the shelves of our favorite stores. We are quickly expanding to new states and working with key retailers who want to grow their alc-free portfolios, as we’ve quickly realized consumers want to be able to pick up bevs locally versus online.”

What should we look out for (in as much as you can disclose) in 2022 and beyond?

“Beyond that, we’re excited to keep working on potential new brews, and a special launch we have planned for later this year!”

“There is a lot to look forward to in the next few years in this space, and we think the fu ture of NA beer, and non-alcoholic options as a whole will rely on a lot of trial and error to bring high end products to market.”

Lane Matkovich, Nonny: “We think inno vation has a ton of importance right now.

BREWINGHITCHHALF COMPANYPERFECT PARTNERS BREWERS JOURNAL CANADA48 | SUMMER 2022

C hange can, often, be for the better. And frequently in the world of beer, change has enabled more breweries to open. And that has subse quently meant more choice for the con sumer. At the tail-end of 2013, Alberta’s Liquor & Gaming Commission took the decision to remove the restriction on the minimum brewery capacity. This was previously 2,500 hectolitres, roughly equal to 66,000 US gallons or some 2,100 barrels of beer. By law, you needed to have capacity to brew 5000 hectolitres and in practice, brew a mini mum of 2,500 hectolitres. And over in the UK, back in 2002, the Chan cellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, in troduced a progressive beer duty that cut taxes by 50% on the first 5,000 hectolitres brewed per year. This duty was only for brewing businesses that produced less than 30,000 hectolitres per annum. This saved small breweries about £45 per bar rel Both($70CAD).ofthese measures resulted in a boon in the world of craft beer, spawning busi ness openings that simply wouldn’t have happened otherwise. In Alberta, there were approximately 300 province-brewed beers in 2016. This swelled to almost 1400 in 2018.

“It all started around the dinner table. One of our weekly family dinners in 2011 turned into an evening of “what ifs”. What if we got into business together? What would it be?

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BEER AND PIZZA. FOR MANY, IT’S THE PERFECT MARRIAGE. JUST ASK THE TEAM AT HALF HITCH BREWING COMPANY. A BUSINESS THAT STARTED OUT AS A BREWERY, AND ONE THAT HAS EVOLVED AND THROUGHGROWNITS CRAFT BEER AND PIZZA OPERATION THE MASH. WITH CLOSE TO TEN SITES OPEN BY THE END OF 2022, THAT’S JUST THE START.

While for the consumer more breweries equals more choice, it also inevitably re sults in increased competition for the brew eries themselves. So ensuring you do your bit to stand out from that competition is im perative. And in the years since starting out, Half Hitch Brewing Company of Cochrane, Alberta, have learned to do just that.

Half Hitch Brewing Company was one of those first breweries to come to market during the craft brew explosion in Alberta. It was founded by homebrewer Chris Hei er, his father Mike Heier, brother Kyle Heier, step-siblings Brittany Kozloski and Chace Kozloski, as well as other relatives acting as shareholders. They started out formulating a concept way back in 2011, when those countless restrictions that prohibited com panies to enter in the market still existed.

“As exciting as the proposition was, there was one honest truth we all had to face; we had no idea how to brew beer. We all knew how to drink it, but that’s about it. That didn’t stop our enthusiasm, however, as a week later Chris (Heier, co-founder and president) was attempting his first home brew.

And once they started running, they’ve not stopped. Speaking last year, CEO and co-founder Kyle Heier outlined how Alberta went from roughly 300 Alberta brewed beers in 2016 to almost 1,400 in 2018. “The shelf and draft space did not grow at the same rate, so being able to adapt is important. When you are sur rounded by a hundred people in a space built for fifty, you need to make your own space,” he added.

Fast forward a few years, a business plan and a chunk of land later, and we were ready to start construction. Since we were doing this as a family, we found ourselves in roles we never expected, and looking back on that time, it’s surprising to say we made it out alive.”

What makes sense for all of us? Our ideas ranged from cheese makers to a bakery, but it wasn’t until Kyle (Heier, co-found er and CEO) mentioned brewery that all of our ears perked up,” explains Brittany Kozloski, vice president of marketing and restaurant operations.

“I feel that The Mash has given us an op portunity to take control of our future a little bit,” says Kozloski. “When we started out, we had direct lines to restaurants and retail.

When the team behind Half Hitch Brew ing Company announced revealed their intentions to open a brewing business, Alberta boasted a modest 10 micro breweries within the province. And near ly 10 years on, that figure has grown by at least ten-fold.

“He quickly made home brewing a passion, creating his own unique recipes and learn ing the ins and outs of the brewing process.

Since then, The Mash has opened addi tional locations within Calgary within the community of Kensington, within Calgary within the community of Mahogany, and also Legacy. Expansion in Edmonton also continues apace with six sites now open, and nine anticipated before the year is out.

In 2019, both Heier and his father Michael had begun planning as to what The Mash had to look like, with the first location within Airdrie, Alberta opening without a drop of marketing but swamped with orders.

“We sold roughly 350 pizzas by 3pm on opening day. The experience had us run ning to every supermarket to purchase ingredients to keep up. We didn’t see it coming, but it was an extremely humbling experience,” he recalls.

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The brewery would officially open its doors in the summer of 2016. “June 2016 was a monumental month for us, as we were finally able to brew our first batch of beer,” says Kozloski. “All of a sudden we found ourselves playing in the big league, with a solid product and the drive to succeed. From brewing, packaging, selling and sam pling, we were all busy making sure we could get our beer into the hands of Alber tans, while still working around the clock to get the restaurant up and running.”

Enter The Mash. A restaurant business serving the brewery’s craft beers alongside pizza’s created using upcycled spent grain from the Half Hitch brewing operation.

We doinglovebeers of different styles, but running these type of

In addition to Farmer’s Daughter and Papa Bear, other staples include Fire N’ Fury, a Red Ale brewed with Caramel Munich malt

And as The Mash continues to expand, so does the team’s knowledge and expertise about catering for their audience.

While there is currently an even split be tween the volumes that go to trade, and those channeled via The Mash, the latter has helped catalyse increased sales in ar eas the brewery has less of a presence.

I feel that The Mash has given us an opportunity to take control of our future

Kozloski,bit,”Brittanya littleHalfHitch

They were coming to us, wanting our beer. But the market has grown a lot. We still have a great presence in those places, but it’s far more competitive than it was early on. So being able to create this vertical in tegration between brewery and restaurant made complete sense.” Those Half Hitch beers are produced on the company’s kit from DME Process Systems in Canada. A manually operated 2-vessel brewhouse, its designed for 20BBL batch

“So with that in mind we create Papa Bear. A beer that anyone could drink as an in troduction to what we do.”

es. The team generally brew 24HL at a time into double sized fermenters, so brew days are always double batched.

“We don’t have a sales rep in Edmonton, so we tell people the best option is to visit The Mash!” Kozloski smiles. “We’ve had people go on to reach out to us because they’ve had our beer alongside their pizza. They end up stocking it in their stores on on tap, which is really rewarding. The two blend seamlessly together.”

“When we first opened up the restaurant here in Cochrane, which is a nice ranch er town, our lightest option was a Pale Ale called Farmer’s Daughter. I would describe it as moderately hoppy but the nice constructive criticism we received from the town was that we needed to brew something their parents could drink otherwise they can’t come,” she recalls.

Papa Bear is a Canadian Cereal Ale brewed with a grain backbone of locally-sourced barley, wheat, rye & oats. Featuring Azacca and Summit hops, it’s described as bready with a hint of spice. “At 5%, it has a lower hop profile than some of our other beers, and easily sells 2:1 compared to anything else we do,” says Kozloski. “We love doing beers of different styles, but running these type of business teaches you that you also need to ensure you are meeting the de mands of your demographic, too.”

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4. GAUGE YOUR OVERALL JOB SATISFACTION AND MAKE AD JUSTMENTS AS NECESSARY This is a tough one, as we all wear so many hats as own ers of our own business, but it is still important to ad dress. When looking at your responsibilities as well as the responsibilities of the members of your family, are you happy with your job description? Is everyone play ing their part to accomplish the company’s goals? If there are issues here- try to set a meeting with the ap propriate parties to discuss your feelings, as it can be emotionally draining and difficult to balance working with your family, and tensions and familial tendencies can quickly arise.

Initially, we all spent almost every second of every day together, and sometimes we wanted to kill each other!

2. ADDRESS ANY ISSUES AS THEY SURFACE RATHER THAN LETTING THEM BUILD UP I know a lot about my family coworkers, including what makes them happy and what irritates them. By know ing my coworkers on such a personal level, it can make it difficult to always be rational or fair with my own thoughts and feelings. The biggest issues we have al ways had have been down to communication, specifi cally with letting issues (and personal feelings) sit and fester as opposed to addressing them early on. When working with your family communication is key, and con stantly needs to be evaluated to assure that everyone is effectively and respectfully addressing one another and the problems that arise.

Everything on this list has one common thread: intentional choice. As a family, we choose to be respectful, choose to communicate, choose to work together, and it paying out for us. Whether you are considering working with family or you are already in business with them, your thoughtful choices can greatly influence how the expe rience is shaped. My family members and I enjoy each other’s company (for the most part), and we are blessed to watch this company grow and to share in the rewards of this experience. It isn’t always easy, but the good far outweighs the bad in our opinion.

We have a family rule that when we are together for family time, the conversation of business needs to be checked at the door. We want to nurture our family relationships and make sure they are not just built on a business interaction. Funny work stories are always welcome and encouraged, but noth ing critical or sensitive is mentioned.

Since we spend time together from a business stand point and a familial one, it has done us a great service to mix things up. Some of us work remotely, others on different floors of the brewery, and some us of come and go throughout the week. This really helps us so that it doesn’t become too much, and allows us to let those small annoyances (like Kyle constantly clearing his throat while he’s working) go.

To have a healthy working relationship it is imperative to make sure the boundary is set between your work and per sonal time. Your identity can quickly be overtaken by the demands of family and work, especially when these as pects are intertwined. We all make sure that we allot time outside of work for our own social circles and personal in terests, and don’t criticize one another for the much need ed “me” time.

6. MAINTAIN YOUR PERSONAL LIFE TO KEEP A WORK-LIFE BALANCE

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST KEY TO WORKING WITH FAMILY?

5. REWORK THE OFFICE SPACE

6 TIPS FOR SUCCESS AND SANITY WHEN WORKING WITH FAMILY WORK WITH FAMILY? I COULD NEVER DO THAT. IF YOU’VE EVER THOUGHT THIS, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT THE DYNAMICS OF THEIR FAMILY COULD NOT TRANSFER TO THE WORK PLACE, BUT HERE, BRITTANY KOZLOSKI TELLS YOU THAT IS POSSIBLE. THEY ARE SOME SIX YEARS INTO THIS BUSINESS, AND ALTHOUGH WORKING WITH FAMILY HAS ITS CHALLENGES, SHE SAYS IT ALSO EXTREMELY FULFILLING TO BE ABLE TO CREATE AND BUILD SOMETHING MEANINGFUL TOGETHER.

We recognize who has the decision-making power over cer tain areas in our company and we support that family mem ber. It wasn’t like that at the beginning, which caused a large amount of confusion and frustration. However, once we de fined the roles of each member of our family it became easy to not step on each other’s toes and allowed everyone to focus on what they need to complete in order to make this company a success.

1. RESPECT ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

3. KEEP BUSINESS TALK AT A MINIMUM WHEN OUTSIDE OF THE BUSINESS

and Cascade hops, while Shotgun Wedding is a Brown Ale boasting British chocolate, crystal and caramel malt and Summit, Sim coe, Amarillo and Azacca hops.

With imminent openings of new locations for The Mash, Kozloski says 2022 has prov en to be the year the team have taken a step back and assess. “For the first time we have asked ‘what are we doing’,” she laughs. “Everything so far has been done in-house which has meant I’ve had 65 different hats on, the same as other members of the family!” She adds: “But we’re at the point we need fresh experience, excellent additions to the team across marketing, restaurant management and beyond. We are bring ing in really strong team players, which has been a godsend that really allowed us to move forward.” That doesn’t mean the Kozloski and Heier’s are playing any less of a role in the busi ness, “Everythough.Monday we have meetings that go on for two- to three-hours. Then numerous message chains follow,” she says. “We’re something of a blended family unit but we still hang out away from work. But some times it blows my mind that we still want to do that!”

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And the story of the delicious grains used in the production of these beers doesn’t end there, quite the opposite. A portion of the three metric tonnes the brewery ends up with each week forms part of the base for the pizzas served at The Mash.

“It has become something of a focal point, and that’s great,” says Kozlos ki. “We are tweaking the recipe all the time but continue to find it fascinating that we can incorporate this part of the brewing process into another part of the business.”

And it doesn’t stop there, with the flour it self available to purchase alongside dog treats and the like. “We’ve always worked with local farmers supplying our spent grain, so it’s great we can now use it in ad ditional ways, too.”

OF...STORYTHETHE ULTIMATE COLLAB A HELPING HAND BREWERS JOURNAL CANADA54 | SUMMER 2022

O ne of craft beer’s finest qual ities is the camaraderie that exists within it. From knowl edge-sharing to collabo rations, people coming to gether for the greater good has long been a calling card for craft. And after an EF2 tornado touched down in Uxbridge, Ontario on Saturday 21st May, The Second Wedge Brewing Co would soon be needing some of that famed com panionship. Thanks to Market Brewing of Newmarket, they got just that. According to the Northern Tornadoes Proj ect (NTP), which surveyed a long, narrow path of damage in the city, they estimated that the path of damage measured 4.26 ki lometres in length with a maximum width of 260 metres. The tornado, they said, likely occurred around 1:15 EDT with a maximum speed of 195 km/h. Unfortunately The Sec ond Wedge Brewing Co would not escape its “Immediatelypath. after the tornado struck, doz ens of people from the community came out to the brewery to see how they could help – moving away debris, rescuing things from the building, helping with our dog or just offering our staff a shoulder to cry on,” recalls Joanne Richter, the brewery’s co-founder and owner.

WHEN AN EF-2 TORNADO HIT UXBRIDGE, ONTARIO IN LATE MAY 2022, A LOCAL STATE OF EMERGENCY WAS DECLARED.

THE TORNADO CAUSED EXTENSIVE DAMAGE INCLUDING DOWNED POWER LINES, UPROOTED TREES, AND EXTENSIVE PROPERTY DAMAGE.

brewersjournal.ca SUMMER 2022 | 55

I couldn’t imagine this happening to Market right after all the MarketPiersin‘normal’towhenstrugglespandemicandjustit’slookingbethefirstsummertwoyears,”Simpkin,Brewing

AMONG THOSE HIT WERE THE SECOND WEDGE BREWING CO. BUT THANKS TO LOCAL SUPPORT AND A HUGE HELPING HAND FROM MARKET BREWING IN NEARBY NEWMARKET, THE BREWERY IS SLOWLY GETTING BACK ON ITS FEET.

BREWERS JOURNAL CANADA56 | SUMMER 2022

Piers Simpkin, general manager, explains: “When I saw the initial aftermath we reached out immediately to see if there was anything we would be able to help with as I couldn’t imagine this happening to Market right after all the pandemic strug gles and just when it’s looking to be the first ‘normal’ summer in two years.

“For at least the first two weeks we received non-stop phone calls and messages from our Uxbridge community, our restaurant and retail customers, and breweries across Ontario, offering help, meals, temporary jobs for our staff, cash donations, storage space, production space, pop-up events and on and on,” she explains.

“Those first few weeks, emotions were very intense – we were coping with the destruction of our brewery, while also feeling so grateful that no one was bad ly hurt, and being absolutely flooded with love and support.”

At Market Brewing, based some 28km west of the brewery, they knew they needed to help.

“Fast forward a couple weeks when we started talking about helping with a cou ple brews to at least keep beer in produc tion seeing as it didn’t look like Second Wedge would be back up and running in a couple months.

Market Brewing typically brew 1-3 days a week, leaving 2-4 available for Second Wedge’s brewers to use the equipment, says head brewer Josh Uttley. “We are able to brew twice or more in one day if a spe cific schedule is needed, and we can work around each other, for example one of us would come in earlier in the morning, or later in the evening. Weekends are also available if necessary,” he adds.

During the brewery’s residency at Mar ket Brewing, Joanne Richter says she ex pects her brewery to somewhat streamline

“From some conversations and brainstorm ing it brought in the thoughts of ‘well you need to store tanks, so we have the room here for most of them, why not set them up and brew here with us as well?’ It seemed like a wild idea however our main mentality at Market is ‘we’ll figure it out’, and here we are right now with GF piping finished, tanks installed and Joanne telling us ‘we’re soon to be roommates, and hopefully we aren’t the roommates that you can’t wait to get out of the house’.”

brewersjournal.ca SUMMER 2022 | 57

Uttley explains: “Second Wedge will mon itor their own inventory, including ingredi ents and finished products. If possible and convenient, we will either place an order for combined malt, or place two separate orders, and coordinate a freight shipment with all malt together. The same is possi ble for things like empty cans, which are sleeved at the same place for both of us.”

“We’d love to say sooner, but we’re at the mercy of construction timelines. Roof truss es are a hot commodity, it seems. In the meantime, we’re holding weekend pop-ups in our beer garden during the nice weath er, and we’d love to see our fans stop in and pick up some beer to go or enjoy a pint “by the ruins.”

We can’t say enough about the kindness and generosity that Piers and Josh and their whole team

Richter adds: ”Our head brewer Mike Lounds and assistant brewer Jamie Ak selsen have been over there working with them for a few weeks now, and it’s a very warm and supportive relationship. Cama raderie in the industry can sometimes be superficial, but Market is putting out the welcome mat and really committing to helping us in a concrete way. We’re end lessly grateful, and aim to be the best pos sible roomies.”

We have an ambitious project of a holiday mix pack for LCBO that we’re putting to gether this fall,” she explains.

Up until that point, she is understandably grateful for the support her brewery has re ceived from Market Brewing.

“This all worked when we were contract brewing on a big 60 HL system, but now we’re looking forward to getting back to our usual size batches (15-30 HL) at Market. Once we’re comfortably ensconced, we hope to be able to work in a few seasonals.

We have a lot of work ahead of us but we’re really excited for the grand re opening – it’s going to be epic,” she adds.

“We can’t speak enough about the kind ness and generosity that Piers, Josh and their whole team have shown us. They were among the first to get in touch when the tor nado struck, and they’ve been nothing but good to us from the get-go,” she says.

“This really is the ultimate collaboration,” says Simpkin. “Hopefully we are reminding our industry why we all got into craft... not just for the beer, That’s the added perk!”

BREWERS JOURNAL CANADA58 | SUMMER 2022

its range in the short term – with the first course of action being to get its year-round, core beers back into production (3 Rocks IPA, Elgin Blonde blonde ale, Monday Night Piper Scottish-style ale and Rain Maker por ter) plus its current LCBO summer seasonal (High Grass lemongrass ginger saison).

Looking ahead, Richter says the best esti mate they have for the building to be re opened is around February.

WedgeTheJoanneshownhaveus,”Richter,SecondBrewing Co

Brewers Journal Canada - Summer 2022

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